falling stars
by nesshaw
Summary: "What are you smiling about?" / she turned to look at him and somehow he got the feeling she was pondering the metaphor that was his life.


**_prompts_: counting backwards and 'what are you smiling about'.**

**__****competition:** _The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition, round seven_

**_disclaimer_**_: disclaimed_

* * *

_what am i supposed to do  
when the best part of me was always you  
_breakeven ;; the script

The night was still young when Scorpius Malfoy walked out of the Leaky Cauldron, to a world where once upon a time his father would've reprimanded him for showing even a slightest interest in it. Time had passed, even Scorpius had difficulties to keep up with it, and before he figured some things out, he was out of school, jobless, and pretty much had no idea what he wanted to do with his life.

London was still as crowded as ever; people passed by the famous wizarding pub, either too focused on the gadget in their hands or a conversation they were in, ignoring him or the pub completely. Humans only needed to miss a little thing to be oblivious to the entire truth, though in his case, it was for the better.

The sky was ablaze with city lights, thick clouds hovering just above the skyscrapers. Scorpius couldn't help gaze at the sky and for a fraction moment, he could practically hear a familiar voice ranting passionately about how she could never—His attention snapped and he looked around, suddenly feeling foolish for even thinking of reaching out to something that he should have let go.

His legs brought him to a famous landmark in London like they always did on a particular day every year. Scorpius had to admit that his habit had become a little bit ridiculous since he had never found what he had been wishing to and he shouldn't have thought about it in the first place.

* * *

_"I can't believe you've never stepped out of the Leaky Cauldron," Scorpius said with a smirk—a tread mark of his that he had far enjoyed using especially to get a reaction from one Rose Weasley which was pretty hard to accomplish._

_She frowned, but said nothing. One would retort back why he had done so, but Rose knew really well that her cousin Al was working part time in a bookshop somewhere in London in summer and Scorpius usually dropped by to visit his friend._

_It took only seconds for her to get lost in her thought as she took in the surrounding with such shining blue eyes that could rival the sky on a bright cloudless day. The fact that she put her thick red hair into a high bun made her neck exposed, and as much as a bastard he was in his teen, he really couldn't afford losing when he barely reached the half of his goal. _

_Al had found his newfound interest for his cousin amusing, but never really voicing what he really thought, preferring to laugh silently at his friend's attempt in getting Rose's attention. Scorpius was challenged because he had a reputation to keep—to be able to get any type of girl, at least, to have an interest in him. _

_He was playing a dangerous game, a double edged knife that could hurt both ways, but Scorpius had not understood the concept of a consequence yet._

* * *

A brief of memory was enough to distract him that he almost bumped onto a stranger. A distraction was what he needed to look somewhere else other than the London Eye in front of him. That's where he found_ her _staring at him. She had the look as if she had always been there every year, watching him as he was looking for her in the giant Ferris wheel, waiting for him to take a step back from a whole circle to see it from the outside. It was just _so _like her.

He could have blinked for a fraction of second and she would have gone and he was already on the edge of losing his mind, failing to find the glue that could bind the shattered memories. He stepped forward until he stood before her, one of his hands reaching out, wanting to make sure that she was real, that she wasn't just a figment of his imagination, but he stopped his action midway.

"Scorpius," she said his name effortlessly like it wasn't some forgotten false notes and she smiled that smile.

* * *

_"What are you smiling about?" he often couldn't help himself repeating the same question when he caught her staring at the stars lining up on the sky. The tone he used got less and less incredulous as he understood more and more about her._

_She turned to look at him and somehow he got the feeling she was pondering the metaphor that was his life._

* * *

His throat went dry. "I suppose it's too late to change my name, isn't it?" he filled in the silence, suddenly giving her a grin that he hoped could pass as playful. "Wouldn't want to be known as a scorpion sent out to punish Orion forever, you know."

"I saw you in the south," she said.

He distinctly remembered her explanation about constellations and where/when to see them best. He wondered what she thought, silently musing that he was back to square one; not knowing what to say even though there were many words left unsaid when they parted five years ago in the graduation day.

_Have you forgiven me? _was what he wanted to say. He had asked her to have a coffee with him instead, coaxing her to talk about what she had been doing these years, so that he could maybe decipher something about her.

"Have you found a job or at leastdecided to continue your study ?" she asked.

_"_No," he replied simply.

"You've always had a knack for history, I remember," she mused. "It could take you anywhere in the world. Why don't you give it a try?"

"If I did, would it take me where you are?" he watched as she cocked her head slightly to the right, meeting his gaze with a thoughtful look.

"No," she said finally, averting her eyes to her almost empty coffee.

He sipped his coffee and closed his eyes, allowing her to move forward while he counted backwards until he could no longer feel her presence. It was almost funny how he understood what she was conveying in one word; he would be studying about the past and she, with the ever changing stars, the future and there was no point where they could meet again. This was the last point where he could reach the future that was not there and she the past that couldn't be changed.


End file.
